Today students from Yellowknife schools and Aurora College, workers and other concerned residents will call on Members of the Legislative Assembly to declare a climate emergency, as part of the latest global climate strike.
Ella Kokelj is the Climate Strike Yellowknife Representative for the students.
“We are in a climate emergency and it is time for our leaders to start acting like it,” Kokelj said. “In the North, we see the impacts of climate change first hand through of out-of-control wildfires, thawing permafrost and climbing temperatures.”
On Friday, November 29, students and workers in Yellowknife will walk out of their classrooms and workplaces to join the global climate strike and send a clear message to our leaders: we bold climate action now, Kokelj added.
We are in a crisis and need to take action,” Kokelj said. “Our future depends on it. By declaring a Climate Emergency, the GNWT would show that they are leaders, that they care about future generations and that they are invested in a healthy territory.”
A climate emergency pushes the GNWT to act, to ensure that the climate crisis is considered in all territorial planning and to serve as a model for the rest of the world to follow, Kokelj added.
“We need to integrate climate change considerations into all governance and decision making,” Kokelj said. “It ensures we are in a position to adapt and develop northern solutions.”
From 9:00 a.m. to 3 p.m., there will be students striking at the NWT Legislative Assembly.
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